1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shaft sealing mechanism that is suitable for use for a shaft of large fluid machinery, such as a gas turbine, a steam turbine, a compressor, a pump, or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
As a shaft sealing mechanism, there is known a type disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2003-113945. The shaft sealing mechanism disclosed in this Patent Document is provided with a leaf seal which is arranged around a shaft of a gas turbine, a steam turbine, or the like, that reduces an amount of gas that leaks from a high-pressure side to a low-pressure side.
However, in the above Patent Document, one end of each of sheets constituting the leaf seal is constructed such that it becomes a free edge (so that the sheets are not restricted by each other) when assembly of the leaf seal is completed and when it is under gas pressure. Therefore, in a case where eccentricity results from a shaft of a gas turbine, a steam turbine, or the like, moving by a degree of float due to dynamic pressure of a sliding bearing, or in a case where eccentricity occurs in a parent machine due to thermal deformation of a turbine housing, flutter behavior is caused at one end of the sheet. Therefore, there is concern that the sheets may fail due to fatigue.